FC storage disappear after ESXi upgrade to 7.0 U3

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

All the missing storages are connected to Emulex LPe12000 8Gb/s PCIe 2.0 FC HBA .

During ESXi upgrade, the lpfc driver of the Emulex HBA could not be replaced to the supported version.

Environment

VMware vSphere 7.x

Cause

Know issue, refer to KB:

Broadcom Emulex cards are not detected after ESXi upgrade to 7.0 U3

Resolution

Manually replace with the supported driver in the target ESXi:

1. Download the supported lpfc driver from Broadcom support web:

   https://compatibilityguide.broadcom.com/detail?program=io&productId=3830&persona=live&column=brandName&order=asc&productReleaseVersion=%5BESXi+7.0+U3%5D&brandName=%5BEmulex%5D&keyword=lpe12000&activePage=1&activeDelta=20&redirectFrom=Emulex%20LPe12000-M8%20Single-Channel%208Gb/s%20Fibre%20Channel%20HBA

2. Copy the offline bundle zip file to the ESXi host using the datastore browser.
3. Put the ESXi host in maintenance mode.
   
   To put the ESXi host in maintenance mode, right-click the ESXi host and click Enter Maintenance Mode. Alternatively, from the ESXi host command line:
   
   esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true
    
4. Ensure the host is in maintenance mode:
   
   esxcli system maintenanceMode get
    
5. Remove the current device driver:
   
   esxcli software vib remove -n <vendor vib name> -f
   
   
6. Install the vib driver bundle that is downloaded and copied into the ESXi host in Step 1 and 2. To install the driver:
   
   esxcli software vib install -d <location of the zip file>
 
7. Reboot the ESXi host:
   
   esxcli system shutdown reboot -r 'replace driver'
    
8. Ensure that the correct driver downgrade is successful and the correct version is running:
   
   esxcli software vib get -n <driver name>
   
   
9. After ensuring that the procedure is successful, exit maintenance mode. To exit maintenance mode using the vSphere Web Client, right-click and select Exit Maintenance mode.
   
   Alternatively, from the ESXi host command line:
   
   esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable false
    
10. Ensure the host is no longer in maintenance mode:
    
    esxcli system maintenanceMode get